Carlos Sainz reflects on tough home GP: “A disappointing weekend, as expected”. Carlos Sainz endured a frustrating Spanish Grand Prix, finishing 14th after early damage.

Alex Albon’s intentions
The first incident, which occurred at the start, forced the Anglo-Thai driver to pit to replace his front wing. A difficult comeback from the back of the grid then led Alex Albon to attempt an overtake on Liam Lawson at Turn 1, again resulting in front wing damage. The Race Direction handed the Williams driver a ten-second penalty, and during his second pit stop, he retired from the race.

“We lost a lot of ground at the start and fell back at Turn 1,” he explained. “The cars ahead were trying to avoid each other and I was the one who got hit, so we had to go for a three-stop strategy to change the front wing. I did my best to stay out of trouble, but we ended up with damage on both occasions. We need to analyze this track and understand why it’s such a challenge for us. I want us to become a front-running team, and it’s important to test the car on tracks like this to learn valuable lessons and optimize our car for the future. Overall, I feel I have good pace with the car and I’m looking forward to Canada.”

What went wrong
Williams’ struggles on the Catalan circuit were also evident with Carlos Sainz, who, after a complicated qualifying session, couldn’t finish higher than 14th. The result brings to an end a good streak of points finishes for Williams, who had scored with both drivers from Jeddah to Monaco.

“It was a difficult race for me and the team. We suffered front wing damage on the first lap, which cost us a lot of time during the race, and we struggled with engine overheating when following other cars. With clean air, the pace seemed better, but overall the weekend wasn’t very positive, as expected. I want to thank all the fans for their incredible support throughout the week, and I hope we can bounce back stronger in Canada.” – the former Ferrari driver concluded at the end of the Spanish Grand Prix.